1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to machines for projecting balls of various types during practice sessions. Specifically, this invention relates to a feeding mechanism for delivering tennis balls from a ball supply hopper to a feed tube at predetermined intervals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The sport of tennis has gained in popularity throughout the past decade as an individual as well as a team sport. Where tennis is being taught, whether in schools, athletic clubs or other institutions, there is frequently a need for a type of ball throwing machine which can be used during practice sessions to simulate game-like situations for the benefit of the individual novice or professional. Most machines which have been devised to date for throwing tennis balls, baseballs, or the like, have a hopper located above the propelling mechanism and which contains the ball supply. The balls from the hopper are fed into a feed tube for delivering the balls to the propelling mechanism. Those skilled in the art have encountered considerable difficulty in developing a mechanism for feeding balls into the feed tube without delays in the feeding due to bridging or jamming of the balls in the supply hopper immediately above the feed mechanism. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,339,660; 3,785,358; 3,766,901; and 3,277,879 are illustrative of the feeding mechanism of the prior art.
The apparatus of the present invention is adapted to be used on the throwing machine disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,77,732 or similar machines having a hopper and feed tube. U.S. Pat. No. 377,732 is hereby incorporated by reference to supplement the disclosure provided herein.